Device for regulating and removing windows in car doors



L. MARTINEZ Oct. 30, 1962 DEVICE FOR REGULATING AND REMOVING WINDOWS IN CAR DOORS I Filed May 11, 1960 INVENTOR. LEO MARTINEZ ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,061,363 DEVICE FOR REGULATING AND REMOVING WINDOWS IN CAR DOORS Leo Martinez, 715 Bush St., San Francisco, Calif. Filed May 11, 1960, Ser. No. 28,491 1 Claim. (Cl. 296-44) This invention relates to a device for regulating and removing windows in car doors.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a connection between the window glass regulator and the window in a car door which eliminates the necessity for the present metal frames for the supporting of the windows.

Another object of the invention is to provide a direct connecting means between the window glass and the regulator in a car door including means to facilitate the removal and replacement of such windows.

I am aware that some changes may be made in the general arrangements and combinations of the several devices and parts, as well as in the details of the construction thereof without departing from the scope of the present invention as set forth in the following specification, and as defined in the following claims; hence I do not limit my invention to the exact arrangements and combinations of the said device and parts as described in the said specification, nor do I confine myself to the exact details of the construction of the said parts as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, which will be made manifest in the following detailed description, reference is had to the accompanying drawings for the illustrative embodiment of the invention, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an inside view of a car door a part of the covering being broken away so as to show the regulator mechanism and its connection to the window in the lowered position of said window.

FIG. 2 is a fragmental view showing a car door with my connection between the regulator and the window and showing the window in elevated position ready for removal from the door.

FIG. 3 is a fragmental plane view showing the arrangement of the links and levers of the regulator.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the car door showing a developed view with the top molding or frame member removed to permit the removal and replacement of the window and showing the window disconnected from the regulator arms.

FIG. 5 is a sectional detail view of the connection of a regulator arm into the respective slot of the car window pane, and

FIG. 6 is a fragmental view of the car window showing the said connection in the slot.

Heretofore the removal of windows from the car doors involved the removal of screws which hold the molding around window well in the door so as to expose the entire well. The molding is lifted away from the door and then the inside door covering must be completely removed. Such covering may be held in place by screws, spring clips and the like. All regulator handles must be removed before the covering can be taken 013?. After the covering was removed, thus exposing the window regulator, the regulator had to be detached from the channel which supports the bottom edge of the glass. Then with the regulator removed the window can be lifted out of the well of the door. The channel along the bottom edge of the glass is usually a metal member to which the arms of the regulators are connected.

In the herein illustration I show a usual car door 1, which has well 2 therein to contain the window 3 in its lowered position. A window regulator 4 of a usual construction is mounted in the car door to be manipulated by a handle 6.

The window regulator 4 in the present illustration includes a pair of regulator arms 7 and 8 directly connected at their free ends to the window glass 3 in a manner to be hereinafter described. The arms 7 and 8 are supported on a central pivot 9 which is vertically shiftable in the well 2. The arm 7 is diagonal in the well 2 and an extension arm 11 on the same diagonal has its free end slidably pivoted in a guide block 12, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. A lever 13 is extended from the shiftable pivot 9 to another pivot block 14 and is pivoted on said block 14. A crank arm 16 extends from the end of the arm 13 at said block 14 and is connected by a suitable link 17 to an operating lever 18 pivoted on the car door. A gear segment 19 of said lever 18 is engaged by a gear 21 which latter is turned by the handle 6 in the usual manner. As the handle 6 is turned in a clockwise direction viewing FIG. 1, it pushes the link 17 and moves the crank arm 16 from the full line position of the crank arm 16 to its broken line position for raising the window and vice versa. During this operation as the crank 16 is so turned toward the position shown in FIG. 2, the lever arm 13 shifts the pivot 9 upwardly, and the pivoted arms 7 and 8 are thus swung around the pivot 9 upwardly toward the position shown in FIG. 2 for raising the window.

The structure heretofore described is conventional and is merely illustrative of methods and devices for raising and lowering windows. The improvements hereinafter described may be applied in connection with regulators of various types.

The improvements herein include the provision of a pair of aligned elongated slots 22 parallel with and spaced from the bottom edge 23 of the window glass 3. Each slot 22 is also near the adjacent vertical edge or lower corner of the window 3. The respective ends of the arms 7 and 8 are connected to the respective slots 22 identically.

The connection at the end of each arm 7 or 8 includes a fixed stud 2'4 fixedly secured to the respective end of the arm 7 or 8 and extended at right angles to the end of said arm toward the window. On the stud 24 is a bushing 26 a head 27 of which is located between the window glass 3 and the respective arm 7 or 8. The bushing 26 slidably fits in the adjacent slot 22. 7

The bushing 26 and its head 27 are made of suitable light plastic material so as to be readily slidable in the slot 22. Suitable lubricant may be incorporated in the material of the bushing 26 or may be exteriorly applied. The bushing 26 extends through the slot 22. and projects to the other side of the window 3. A washer 28 of similar plastic material is provided on the projecting tail of the bushing 26 on the side of the window 3 opposite from the head 27 and is arranged symmetrically with the latter. The bushing has opposite slits 29 cut through opposite sides thereof so spaced from the head 27' that the slits 29 register with a circular groove 31 near the end of the stud 24 when the bushing 26 is assembled on the stud 24 as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. A spring clip 32 has its legs symmetrically curved inwardly to form catches 33 which project through the slits 29 and engage the circular groove 31 of the stud 24 and thereby hold the bushing 26 in position. The free ends 34 of the legs of the spring clip 32 are shaped to diverge so that they can be pried apart for releasing the spring clip 32 from the bushing 26 but will automatically snap together when the clip 32 is pushed over the bushing with its projections 33 in registry with the respective slits 29.

Thus in assembling the window glass 3 on a regulator in a car door, the only connection required is the bushings on the studs 24 which are then extended through the slits 22. Then the washer 24 is placed over the bushing and the spring clip 32 is snapped in position accomplishing rapid direct connection between each arm 7 or 8 and the window glass 3. This entirely obviates the cumbersome metal supporting frame used at the present time and also renders the operation more positive and much easier with corresponding reduction of friction.

The window glass 3 is guided by vertical channels 36 of suitable construction which have therein the usual packing strip not shown in detail.

In order to facilitate the removal or replacement of the window glass 3 from the car door, the top frame member is formed as a garnish molding 37 detachably secured, for instance by screws 38, to the tops of the channels 36. Thus by removing the garnish molding 37 and continuing of the raising of the regulator 4 the panel or window glass 3 can be lifted so as to expose the slots 22 and the respective ends of the arms 7 and 8 above the top edge 39 of the well 2 and render the arm connections accessible. In this position the clip 32 can be quickly removed, then the washer 28 is removed from the bushing 26 and by easy manipulation the window glass can be detached and replaced.

The bushing 26 and ends of the arms 7 and 8 can be easily manipulated also by removing the molding strip 41 at the top of the window section of the well 2 without the necessity of removing the entire covering of the door or the regulator. Therefore the cumbersome and difficult operations in replacing windows used at present are entirely eliminated and windows can be replaced without dismantling the car door.

I claim:

The combination with a car door having a window well and a regulator in the car door well for raising and lowering windows, and guides for vertical edges of said window; of a window glass forming said window, a top garnish mold limiting the upward movement of said window glass, slots on the edge of the window glass farthest from said top mold, detachable connecting means between the arms of said regulator and said slots to connect them together, so that when said window glass is raised by the regulator, its upward movement is limited by said mold and when said upper mold is removed then said window glass can be raised above the window glass well in said door, the said window glass being larger than the distance between the top of the door well and said top molding, and said slots being so located as to be concealed below the top edge of the well in the position of the window glass abutting said molding but be exposed above the top edge of said well when said window glass is elevated after the removal of said molding.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,658,732 Moesta Feb. 7, 1928 2,157,366 Vigroux May 9, 1939 2,676,042 Roethel Apr. 20, 1954 2,876,003 Probst Mar. 3, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,199,868 France June 22, 1959 1,224,643 France Feb. 8, 1960 

